Over the course of the next week, I’d like to talk about a few San Diego bands while San Diego is still my locale.
Rather than save the best for last, I am going to hit the ground running straight out of the gate with the Silent Comedy. These guys are absolutely amazing. I first discovered the Silent Comedy after I learned that another San Diego act that I liked called Dehra Dun had disbanded and a few of its members had formed something new. The new press pictures were interesting – the band was dressed (and still does) in prohibition era clothing. It is fitting garb for a band that takes Americana and folk music back to its very roots. The singing is soulful, the instruments are aplenty, and you have never had as much fun as you have at a Silent Comedy show.

I applaud these guys not only for their talent, but also for their foresight. They were about two years ahead of the curve as one of the lonesome few west coast acts playing folk inspired tunes before hipsters everywhere became enamored with it. Though many have jumped on the good ole bandwagon since then, the group has a core group of fans that have been there since its inception. Though they are one of the hottest tickets in the SoCal scene, routinely selling out venues that nationally recognized acts can’t even seem to fill, they are careful to connect with their fans on a personal level and often personally invite familiar faces back to shows in each city they play. Perhaps due to their overall likeability, each show feels like a family reunion. You can’t help but have a huge smile on your face watching these guys on stage, hollering and stomping like its Sunday mass, while you dance and sing along next to your best friends like you’re never going to be able to dance again.

I’m including a video of one such performance that I personally attended at the famed Casbah. The boys often play a raucously fun tune called “Road Song,” and it is almost always the grand finale of the show. I am really, really going to miss seeing this band.

Take heed, hipsters! If the Silent Comedy doesn’t become a national phenomena in the next couple of years, I will eat my straw hat.

For today’s installment of “Music Mylynda Has Enjoyed While In San Diego,” I’m going to talk about the uber-talented Bedford Grove. Essentially the brain child of young but seasoned musician Marc Gould, this band takes the laid back SoCal guitar grooves popularized most recently by fellow San Diegan Jason Mraz and mixes it up with jazzy New Orleans flavor and New York wit.
I want to keep things rated PG around here, but Bedford Grove makes me feel sort of PG-13. The sultry voices, the horn lines, the lyrics…this band is sexy. There’s just no way around it. If you’re wearing out your Marvin Gaye albums on date night, pop this one in the player and skip ahead to “In the Car.” Try not to blush.

“What Damaged Mylynda’s Hearing in San Diego But Kept Her Coming Back For More,” Day 3 (Author’s note: I’m going to keep making these long names up until somebody suggests a snappier title.)

About one year ago, a guy approached me during a show at the Casbah. After going through the usual formalities that accompany the whole “boy hits on girl” ritual, he told me “I hope you’re going to stay for this next band. They’re friends of mine, and they’re so great. I’ll get you a cd!” I declined, not wanting to take advantage of my situation and accept a gift from a stranger, but I did stay. I was so glad that I did.

I’d gone to the show to see the Silent Comedy (mentioned on day one of this installment), and wondered who these other group of dudes were wandering around in vests and porkpie hats. Though they opt for a vintage look, Crash Encore are anything but outdated – they are quite classic, actually. They play wonderful pop songs that are pulled off perfectly by vocalist Jon Bishop’s sweet voice. Bishop is one of those rare people who is an artist through and through. He doesn’t have a separate stage persona and a daily image. The guy who hit on me that night wasn’t kidding, they were friends – as we became accquainted, I spent time around Bishop and the other bandmates (and bonded with his Minnesotan girlfriend), and was always struck by how clever and creative – and deceptively aloof – the guy was at all times. He also wasn’t kidding about them being great. After seeing their set that first night, I accepted the free album, and then I got it signed.

“A Band One of Mylynda’s Friends Said Is Good,” Day 4 of the San Diego Music Installment!

Today I am using one of the music suggestions sent to me by a born and raised San Diegan. I haven’t had the chance to see this band live, but I have listened to them and well…I approve this message!

Any band who puts in their bio that their songwriter attempts to use his lyrics to “abolish the ego” is likely to be fairly intelligent and should be taken seriously. BoomSnake really doesn’t let you down in this assumption. Their music is not noisy or overdone. It is ambient without being boring, kind of like a SoCal Sigur Ros. When it does steer closer to songs in the pop vein, their classic style of Beatles-esque harmonies are bright and pleasant. These two (sometimes three) seem quite talented, and I regret I won’t be able to see them perform. You should, though!

Check out their MySpace profile for a whole slew of shows they have coming up on the west coast.

For today’s San Diego music scene installment, I offer you Black Heart Procession. A San Diego favorite, the band is an amalgamation of other great acts, including Three Mile Pilot, Modest Mouse, the Magic Magicians, The Album Leaf, Via Satellite, and (a personal favorite of mine) Manuok.

I don’t think I could ever describe Black Heart Procession more eloquently than the author of their MySpace biography does: “Theirs is the sound of driving at night across the West. Like the wide-open landscape, this is music that knows how to be both desolate and lush. And it knows that while sadness pulls you down, discontent pushes you forward. So the Procession never stops.”

http://www.myspace.com/theblackheartprocession